Hello December
hello! It is the birthday month and I actually had several things to talk about but the last few days have been overwhelming, emotional and confusing. I have spent sleepless nights just crying, feeling like there is a big boulder on my heart. One of the days when I was feeling overtly sad, I opened a parcel my friend had sent from Germany. On it she had written, “Don’t open before December 14.” She knows how impatient I am. I didn’t touch it for a week but I opened it on that sad morning. In it was a letter, few leaves, tea and a graphic novel - fruit of knowledge: The Vulva vs. The Patriarchy. One of tea sachets read- pussitee.
I have kept the letter for my birthday. That morning this parcel saved me but I spent the night sleepless and crying. I am not going to talk about that but share this from The Vulva vs. The Patriarchy.
While I am at it, let me also share How to have feminist sex by Flo Perry which I bought myself as a birthday gift.
Going back to sad, bleak days, my constant companion through the pandemic has been someone I met on Hinge who invited me over so I would feel better. I did. The pandemic and a new companion has lead me to question a lot of the beliefs I held when it came to romance / connections. I realised I have always been the lemme-show-you-the-light kinda person in relationships. I also realised how often I want to be of use, hey-I-can-cook-well, let-me-solve-that-emotional-problem-for-you, all in the hope they will see how smart, resourceful I am and love me in return. I am trying to tell myself, I don’t have to try so hard.
Anyway, with the new companion, I wanted to know if others had looked for connections during the pandemic and ran a sticker on my Instagram and there were so many stories. So I decided to run it as a project. The stories are so amazing. I am visualising this project as an exhibition, I am leaving the ‘hows’ to the universe.
This is story 1 of #Loveandlonginginthetimeofcorona, I spent a lot of time embroidering it, please show it some love, if you haven’t already.
That aside, since it is birthday month and this year has been kind (I wouldn’t call kind if there were more distractions, I would just expect it to gimme more), I told my friends and family who want to buy me a gift to give to any or all of these non-profits.
Karm Marg is a my home and it is somewhere I have worked. It is in a village in Faridabad in Haryana. KM is home for up to 60 children (aged 4 years onwards). Youngsters and children with special needs are given shelter, nutrition, medical care, education, extracurricular activities and counseling along with lots of love and masti. We also have taken in rescued or missing children for short term care through the government’s Child Welfare Committee. If you’d like to give to KM, here’s a link: https://danamojo.org/dm/karm-marg
The next one is Parcham, an organization I volunteer with and love. Parcham works to strengthen the confidence of young girls, to get them to believe in themselves. They work to build bridges between communities which have been divided by misconceptions and animosity. They work to create a dialogue, build friendships and trust. They work to break stereotypes, to create positive images in place of the demonization of marginalised identities. Please read Neerja’s piece on Parcham in the Firstpost. Here’s Parcham’s FB page. To give to Parcham, write to them at parchamcollective@gmail.com.
And if you believe in libraries, the community library project is perfect.
TCLP's mission is to expand access to books and promote thinking through reading. Before the pandemic it was running 3 libraries, catering to 4000+ members through read-alouds, reading rooms, books for weekly check outs, workshops and much more. In the pandemic, their funding support has dried up and they need your support to make it to 2021.Donation link: https://www.thecommunitylibraryproject.org/donate-to-us/
I am also doing a book making workshop to raise funds for TCLP. Here are details. If you can’t make it, please don’t forget to tell your friends.
CREATING A BOOK ON GROWING AND MEMORIES: MIXED MEDIA ART 20.12.20 | 11:00 AM Join @induviduality to reflect, write & create across time & space, visit places from the past and create mixed media artwork. #REGISTER: townscript.com/v2/e/tclps-fre…
That’s it for now. Take care of yourself.
Warmly,
Indu
Hey Indu, lots of virtual hugs🤗 hope you feel happy and chirpy again. The new art project looks awesome, I'm sure the embroidery art would turn out even best.
Hope your birthday month turns out to be much better than how you’re feeling now. Take care❤️